Biography
Ari Rasilainen (* 1959 in Tampere , Finland) is one of the outstanding conductors of his generation.
Rasilainen studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in the conducting class of Jorma Panula and in Berlin at Arvid Jansons. Aleksander Labko was in Berlin to be an instructor of violin . Then Rasilainen played first as a violinist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1980 to 1986, as leader of the second violins in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performed as a soloist and has appeared in chamber music ensembles.
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Only now began his conducting career, initially - 1985 to 1989 - as chief conductor of Lappeenrata City Orchestra in Finland and then, until 1994, when Prinicipal Guest Conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1994 to 2002 led Rasilainen the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo . From the 2002/03 season he was elected the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra for permanent guest conductor. At the same time, also from the 2002/03 season, he was appointed as successor to Theodor Guschlbauer music director of the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate in Ludwigshafen. This activity he held until the start of season 2009/10.
Rasilainen now works regularly with other major orchestras in Europe and North America. At the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, he conducted operas, including "Lohengrin," "The Magic Flute" and "Tosca". The main German Radio Symphony Orchestra know and appreciate Rasilainen as guest conductors. With his State Philharmonic he has done in recent years a number of very successful tours, such as in May 2005, after China.
Numerous CD recordings underline Rasilainens diverse activities. Under his leadership, so far more than 50 recordings have been recorded, it includes the recordings of the symphonies of the late Romantic Swedish Kurt Atterberg.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.